| Temasek Review 2011

Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL), established in 2002, is a non-profit organisation that aims to be a world class research institute in the field of molecular biology and genetics. TLL is a beneficiary of the Temasek Trust and is affiliated to the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University. It is headed by Emeritus Professor Chan Soh Ha from NUS and advised in its research initiatives by an international Scientific Advisory Board.

TLL nurtures scientific talents from all over the world and provides opportunities for them to become leaders in their fields. Under its programmes, about 220 researchers from 24 countries have published more than 500 papers in peer-reviewed journals, and filed over 210 patent applications, of which about half have been licensed.

The research institute continues to attract international scientists renowned in their respective fields of research. Recently, Dr Chua Kaw Bing, an eminent virologist whose work has been credited with the discovery of the Nipah virus, and Dr Joanne Yew, a neurobiologist specialising in insect chemical communication and social behaviour, have joined the research community in TLL.

TLL researchers developed the H5N1 pre-pandemic vaccine and therapy – an antibody technology that offers broad protection amongst most circulating strains of the H5 influenza virus and limits the ability of the virus to mutate. TLL’s pioneering efforts in H5N1 research led to the formation of EPIC Bio, a joint venture with a leading US vaccine company, Emergent BioSolutions. EPIC Bio will focus on the development and commercialisation of broad spectrum pre-pandemic influenza vaccines and therapeutics.

TLL has an international network of collaborations. Last year, it added to its list an academic collaboration with Japan’s National Institute of Basic Biology to promote joint research activities and collaborative research projects involving model organisms. More recently, TLL signed a research collaboration agreement with China’s Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences on rice research, training and development.